


Happy Endings

by Little_Ditty



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-24
Updated: 2012-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-05 22:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Ditty/pseuds/Little_Ditty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Swan Queen. The Evil Queen will have her happy ending. And she will have her revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Sorry I'm late," she purred in a low, dangerous voice before striding purposefully, regally through the hall. The soles of her boots clicked and echoed in the stunned silence the grand entrance had wrought over the once happy people.

She almost smiled when a pair of braver palace guards attempted to stop her; instead the duo was thrown to crash into opposite walls.

"Run! It's the Queen!"Foolish little man, as if running would do any good at all.

"She's not a queen anymore." Snow always did have fire, seemingly too strong to be stamped out. "She's nothing more than an evil witch!"

"No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need." And Snow's _charming_ prince, the one who broke Maleficent sleeping curse. All of them weak and watery and so _good_. "You're wasting your time, you've already lost. And I will not let you ruin this wedding."

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary dear, I've come to make a vow of my own." She would cause all of them suffering beyond the likes of which they could never imagine.

"We will hear nothing from you!" cried the precious flake of snow. But she would melt that overconfidence.

Pacing back and forth, with all the dangerous grace of a panther, she watched the frightened, meek people. "Have your wedding, your happy, _happy_ day. For tomorrow, that is when my revenge begins. You made your vows, now I make mine. Soon, I will have _my_ happy ending. And it will bring you pain beyond your darkest nightmares, something too horrible for you to contemplate. But that, _that_ , is the delicious part. Out of your suffering will rise my victory."

Indeed, that brave front melted from Snow and her prince. "I will taint your happiness, if it is the last thing I do."


	2. Chapter 2

Many feared Prince James and his beautiful Snow White too lenient with the Evil Queen. But, in time, the threat was forgotten. Then, happily, a daughter was born. And she was given the name _Emma_.

Kings and Queens came from all around to bring gifts for the child. But, for the boasting of her charming father, many were unprepared to give gifts to a daughter in lieu of a son. Among them was the bereft princess, Cinderella, and her own daughter, Alexandra.

It was then that Snow White and Prince James decided: their Emma and Alexandra would become friends. Thus Snow could comfort Ella, while James searched for his magically banished friend, Thomas.

In the early days of the arrangement it was an excuse for Snow and Ella to visit, their daughters far too young to play or even understand. But soon the visit were both looked forward to and dreaded; the former by the princesses and the latter by whichever palace staff had to chase after the terrors.

Apart both girls were fine; Alexandra was quiet and mild mannered, Emma a bit fantastical in her make believe games but capable of behaving when reminded. Together the boisterous younger girl made her older friend come out of her shell and join in the mischief. Not parents nor palace staff had the heart to do more than gently scold the two.

The years passed in that fashion; one month Ella would bring Alexandra to visit her friends, the next Snow, and occasionally James, would escort Emma. Until one day…

"Sweetheart, we have to wait for your mother to get back from the dwarves, and then we can leave," James explained, crouched in front of his young daughter. Her honey-blonde hair and striking blue eyes looked so much like him, but the pout which pulled at Emma's lips was all Snow.

"Daddy, I'm a big girl," explained the princess, like she was the adult talking to a child instead of the reverse. "I can go _now_. And you and Mamma can come later."

Emma had him wrapped around her little finger, and James quickly agreed. And the carriage trundled off to Ella's with the intent that James and Snow would meet their daughter along the way.

She wasn't old enough to understand why, but Emma knew her parents laughed about taking the scenic route. It was pretty but, without her parents to entertain the young princess, Emma quickly got bored. "Boo!" the girl shouted, poking her head through the window next to the driver. Both driver and horses were used to the antics of the rambunctious blonde and didn't startle easily.

Still the driver gave a dramatic flinch at her voice, much to Emma's delight. "It's just me!"

Smiling down at the girl the driver played the game with her. "Oh, Princess, you scared me."

This game might have entertained the blonde whirlwind for some minutes, but a beautiful flower on the roadside diverted her wandering attention. "Oh stop! I wanna pick the flower for my Mamma."

Nearly tumbling from the carriage in her excitement, Emma hurried to the flower she'd seen. It was a rose like the ones in the garden at the palace, but this one was a deep, beautiful red that made Emma want to reach out and touch it.

"Ah ah ah," a voice cautioned before the princess touched the flower. Emma looked up to see a tall, beautiful lady dressed all in black. "Shouldn't you ask before touching other people's things? Besides, you will prick yourself on the thorns dear."

While 'no' was not a common thing for Emma to hear, her parents were teaching her manners. "May I please pick the flower for my Mamma? I'm a princess."

"Indeed?" The woman in black knelt next to Emma and brought out a knife. Before the princess could either be afraid or reach out for the knife, the woman deftly cut the stem of the flower and held it out to Emma. "A beautiful princess deserves a beautiful flower. And you are certainly the fairest of them all."

Before either could say a word, the sound of hoof beats reverberating off the road echoed up to the pair. "It is time for me to go, little princess. But let's tell no one we spoke. Our little secret, perhaps?" Emma's eyes lit up at the promised secret and she nodded excitedly. "Until the next time then, dear." And in the next blink Emma sat alone.

Shortly thereafter both of her parents rode up to the stopped carriage. "Emma?" called Snow, wondering what on earth her daughter had gotten into.

"Mamma! I picked you a flower!" Emma called, dashing up to be lifted into her mother's lap.

"You have to be careful, Emma. These have thorns and can be very dangerous, oh, like that," Snow inspected the bright, dot of blood at the tip of one finger.

"Daddy, you need to kiss Mamma's booboo," commanded the little girl. It wasn't exactly the way he kissed his daughter's booboos but James did as requested.

"Now, don't we have a princess to be visiting?" James enquired, redirecting Emma's excitement to her visit with Alexandra. And the family quickly carried on their way without a backward glance.


	3. Chapter 3

James settled into his desk, intent on reading the reports he'd been given, when a disgruntled noise stopped him. He stopped because the noise emanated from _under_ his desk. Craning his neck James looked into the space and was surprised to find Emma there. His daughter was on her stomach, perusing a book in the light provided by a fairy light bobbing around her head. "What are you doing down there?" he asked after a moment.

Without looking up from the book, Emma answered, "Hiding."

"And from whom are you hiding," he asked, more than a little amused.

"Tutor."

"And which one would that be?" James asked.

"Math, I hate it," Emma answered, breaking her pattern of single word answers but still not looking up from the pages of her book.

"I never cared for math either," her father confessed, musing that his seven year-old daughter had more schooling than he had. Of course, there was his life as a farmer to explain that. "And why, may I ask, did you hide under my desk? Why not the nursery?"

This caused the girl to look up at her father. The look on Emma's face was one of annoyance as she patiently explained, "Morgan is crying again."

James nodded sympathetically. For all that the newest addition to the Royal Family looked for all the world like a copy of her older sister, the Princess Morgan cried. All day, every day. Without fail. And for no more reason, at least as far as her parents and Doc could tell, than a simple desire to cry. "Alright, so you will be under there for some time then?"

"Yes please," Emma intoned, slipping effortlessly back into her reading.

With a nod and a smile, James turned back to his own reading. He was careful to mind his feet, lest a booted foot's movement cause another squeak of protest.

The two read in companionable silence for a time. It was Emma who broke the trance woven by words when she tapped on her father's knee. James pulled his legs back to allow Emma to crawl out from under the desk. "Daddy, what does this word say?"

Ever since she had learned to read Emma had asserted her independence; she'd told her parents they did not need to read her stories at night because she could do it on her own. Since reading tales kept the precocious princess out of trouble, neither Snow nor James objected overmuch. But this did have James curious as to what word had stumped his bright child. "Let me see that," he said, gesturing for the book.

When Emma scrambled onto his lap, James set the book on the desk in front of them. "That word, the sounds are funny and not working right," pouted the princess.

Looking where Emma pointed, it took James a moment to register what word he was looking at. But when that information fell into place it caused a flood of icy fear to rear up. _Rumpelstiltskin._

"Where did you get this book?" James asked, flipping to the cover to find out what book his daughter had unwittingly stumbled upon. _Once Upon A Time._ A benign title for a subject that was anything but.

"In the library," Emma informed him, with a tone that questioned where else a book should be found.

James flipped through the book and found some relief in the colorful illustrations and well known tales. And his daughter was in the middle of one about Thomas and Ella. "Why are you reading this?" he asked, less afraid of some unknown magic and more from curiosity.

"I will find Alexandra's daddy. I always find people, like when I found Pinocchio. He was hiding in the wardrobe, but nobody else could find him. And I only get found when I want to." James doubted his daughter's first claim, he had been unable to find Thomas after nearly a decade of searching, but the second one he fully believed.

Idly flipping through the book, James stopped when his daughter uttered a small gasp. Looking at the page he'd turned to the prince frowned at the roughly drawn image: the Queen when she had interrupted his and Snow's wedding. "No need to be scared, Emma. It is just a picture. The Evil Queen will never harm you."

But Emma's gasp had not been one of fear, but of shock. She would know that silhouetted, even roughly drawn as it was, anywhere. That was her friend, her secret friend, Regina. But why had her father called her friend evil? The thought bounced around in Emma's head until her father flipped back to Alexandra's daddy's story. "Daddy, can I take the book with me to show Alexandra?"

Her father agreed, though he reminded her to be careful with the book. And Emma was always careful with books. But when the time came for the next visit to Alexandra, the book was the first thing to be carefully packed in Emma's baggage. She would show her playmate, but that would not be the only person she showed the book to.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few chapters of this but my multi-chapter fics don't always have quick updates. I'll post what I have and try to write more as quickly as I can.


End file.
